ANSWER- D

• On May 9-20, 2022, the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which was hosted by Côte d’Ivoire for the 1st time at its Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan on the theme ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity’. The theme calls for action to ensure land continues to benefit present and future generations.
• Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara host the UNCCD’s COP15.
• Focus of COP15: It focused on the future of land management by galvanizing sustainable solutions for land restoration and drought resilience, and future-proofing land use.

ANSWER- A

• The Qutub Minar complex is not a place of worship and its character cannot be changed now, the Archaeological Survey of India submitted in a Delhi court recently, while opposing a plea challenging the dismissal of a civil suit seeking “restoration” of Hindu and Jain temples on the premises.
• The original suit, claiming that 27 temples were demolished to build the QuwwatulIslam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex, was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places Of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991:

• It seeks to maintain the “religious character” of places of worship as it was in 1947 except in the case of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, which was already in court.
• Section 3 of the Act bans the conversion of a place of worship or even a section of it into a place of worship of a different religious denomination or of a different segment of the same religious denomination.
• Section 4(2) says that all suits, appeals or other proceedings regarding converting the character of a place of worship (that were pending on 15th August, 1947) will come to end when the Act commences and no fresh proceedings can be filed.

Exemption:

• The disputed site at Ayodhya was exempted from the Act.
• Any place of worship which is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
• Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.

ANSWER- B

• Narayan Rane Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) inaugurated India’s first Centre of Excellence for Khadi (CoEK) in New Delhi, Delhi. The CoEK is set up at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) as a hub in Delhi and spokes in Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Kolkata, and Shillong.
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has collaborated with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) to set up the CoEK in NIFT, New Delhi. The MoU regarding this was signed in 2021.

ANSWER- D

• Redcliffe Labs, a unit of Redcliffe Lifetech Inc based in the United States of America (USA), has opened its commercial drone corridor between Uttarkashi and Dehradun, Uttarakhand. This will be the first commercial drone flight in India’s healthcare sector.
• The use of drones between Uttarkashi and Dehradun has drastically reduced the travel time to 88 minutes with one battery swap in between. Or else, the 144 Kilometres travel would take 6-8 hours by road and 12 hours during landslide times.

ANSWER- C

• Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin remotely launched the “Kalaignarin All Village Integrated Agriculture Development Programme” in the districts of Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Erode.
• Under this scheme, coconut saplings, home farming saplings, horticultural saplings, sprays needed for farming, kit for vegetable garden would be distributed and a 100% subsidy would be provided to Adi Dravida farmers for sinking wells in dry lands, employ drip irrigation, and to dig farm ponds.

ANSWER- D

• Gautam Adani, Chairman and founder of the Adani Group, Supreme Court lawyer and public activist Karuna Nundy and Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Parvez were among the list of 100 Most Influential People of 2022 published by TIME magazine, an American news magazine.

ANSWER- C

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Vivek Kumar, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
• Officer of the 2004 batch, as the Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Joint Secretary level.

ANSWER- B

• Yuri Averbakh, a Russian Grandmaster, a trainer, international arbiter, chess composer, and endgame theoretician, has passed away at the age of 100 in Moscow, Russia. He was the world’s oldest living Grandmaster. He was born on 8 February 1922 in Kaluga, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

ANSWER – C

• At the fourth Quad summit — the second since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there were divergences among the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and US on the war in Europe.
• There was unanimity in their response to China’s belligerence as they strongly opposed “any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo” in the Indo-Pacific.
• Indian Prime Minister said: At the Quad level, mutual cooperation is encouraging a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, which is a shared objective for all of us,”
• Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) is the informal strategic dialogue between India, USA, Japan and Australia with a shared objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.

ANSWER – D

• In a bid to cool inflation inedible oils, the Centre allowed duty free import of 20 lakh tonnes each of crude soybean oil and crude sunflower oil for this year as well as 2023-24.
• Inflation: Inflation is defined as a situation where there is sustained, unchecked increase in the general price level and a fall in the purchasing power of money.

ANSWER- B

• Consumer goods companies and makers of electronics goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is collected and recycled by 2023 with targets to increase them to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively, according to a draft notification by the Environment Ministry made public this week.
• The rules bring into effect a system of trading in certificates, akin to carbon credits, that will allow companies to temporarily bridge shortfalls.

ANSWER- C

• Released by: World Economic Forum.
• Index assesses 117 economies biennially, identifying key factors in enabling the sustainable and resilient growth of travel and tourism economies.
• India ranked at 54th position out of 117 assessed countries while Japan ranked 1st in the index.

ANSWER- D

• World Turtle Day is annually observed across the globe on 23rd May to create awareness about the plight of turtles and tortoises and their natural habitats.
• 23rd May 2022 marks the celebration of the 22nd World Turtle Day. The theme of World Turtle Day 2022 is “Shellebrate!” Asks Everyone to Love and Save Turtles.